Tivaan Tiyagi
"I may not be the best Paladin ever, but I will be damned if I didn't try." --Tivaan Tiyagi Tivaan Tiyagi, Hero of the Nentir, was a well known hero and adventurer in the early 1800s AGC, playing a pivotal role in the Heroes of the Nentir's battles against Kalarel, Paldamar, Iroan, Bastion Ravden, and Bangis Borak. He took part in all the major adventures of the group during the early years of the Second Thevan War, including the scouting of Erjan Theva, the sabotage of Malatestra, and the diplomatic practices in the Qalot Desert. Early Life ''"Tivaan..." ''--Akra Odeyar's final word. Tivaan was born to Tivaarnel Tiyagi and Akra Odeyar, deserters from the military of Erjhan Theva, in the spring of 1776. His birth took place on the same date as his mother's death. At the retreat of several of the Emperor's Scales, the young dragonborn came under the protection of Father Bolvar Pendragon, Father Superior, and future High Father at the Temple of Bahamut at Fallcrest. His formative years were spent in the temple, with his friends Marla and Alec, also both orphans under Bolvar's charge, molded Tivaan into a generally polite and well spoken child, helpful and smart to the best of his ability. Despite a reputation as a bully, Tivaan was well liked among the clergy, and commoners of Fallcrest. The youth's strange birth, and the even more strangely conflicting rumors of his behaviors, some sides claiming him to be a protective friend, and others a ruthless aggressor, lead High Mother Josephine not to have Tivaan trained further as a Cleric or Paladin of Bahamut until she could see for herself actions proving tales true or false. Until such a time, she would allow Tivaan to stay at the temple and study, and offered even to help him find work among the township, doing whatever might suit him. Tivaan spent much of his youth contemplating his future, and more often, his past, bein the singular Dragonborn to be remembered in Fallcrest in his life time. He spent hours of study learning to read and write, both in Common and Draconic, memorizing hymns, prayers, and stories of great worshippers of Bahamut from as many sources as he could get his hands on, more then a few of which meant breaking into the temple libraries restricted section. He also studied, mostly in secret, the martial arts practiced by the Paladins in the Temple, and became a gifted swordsman at a young age. Despite these advances, Tivaan was never given the opprotunity to join any of the orders of the temple until shorty before his thirteenth birthday. A twisted hunter and tracker named Mikael, who had lived in a small farming village just south of the Erjhan Thevan border, claimed to have tracked Tivaan to the temple, after follwing rumors of his parents for hundreds of miles, and almost a decade and a half. He, along with a gang of xenophobic mercenaries, held the temple at ransom until Tivaan turned himself over, which he did without question to protect his friends.The exchange turned sour however, when Mikael, instead of leaving with him as he promised, attempted to kill the boy. Tivaan engaged him in battle, suffering a stab wound through the abdomen in order to remove the man's sword from his posession, before killing him using his advantages of size and strength. The rest of the mercenary gang was arrested and tried for their crimes, and Tivaan was given a full pardon based on the retelling of the story to the Warden of Fallcrest by a dozen witnesses. High Mother Josephine witnessed his willingness to sacrifice himself for a greater good, and under the reccomendation of Lady Knight Lia Silverleaf, Tivaan was allowed to begin training to become a Paladin of Bahamut. Paladin Training ''"He has always been a bit of a bully, but he is smart, and his heart is in the right place."--''Lia Silverleaf, Lady-Knight Tivaan's training, while beginning very late in his life compared to other Paladins, jumped ahead in leaps and bounds. Having spent years in the temple, he was well aware of the prayers and verse of the Paladins, and pushed himself into an extreme physical regiment. Lia took special interest in his training, overseeing on personal level above other paladins in her charge. While the other junior paladins trained for twelve hours a day, Tivaan pushed himself to sixteen, unknown to the trainers around the temple. When discovered, Lia encouraged quality of training over quantity, the level of skill developed more important then the amount of skills. With Lia's expert guidance, and his own determination, Tivaan quickly gained practice in both martial and religious traditions of the Paladins. He grew steadily stronger over the next two years, and rather then simply standing taller then the other knights in training, he also grew wider, his slim frame growing muscular, to the point of being imposingly large when in training armor. His skills as a swordsman grew considerably under Lia's tutelage, his basic cust and slashes improved with flourishes and twists more suitable to her rapier. The ferocity of their training also made Tivaan especially wary of attack, increasing his familiarity with shield in martial application as much as it did with sword. Despite starting much later, Tivaan eventually surged to the head of the junior paladins, past boys that had been enduring the training for almost a decade, until by the time he was sixteen, he was ready to engage in a ritual known as the Ranging, a special training exercise to learn survival skills in the most dire of situations. An Idol Lost "''Tivaan, go, quickly. Warn the others. Protect the village. I will deal with this. And may the Platinum Dragon guide you."--''Lia's final words to Tivaan. Tivaan's Ranging started as simply as any other. He and Lia headed to the woods oustide of Fallcrest, with little equipment save a weapon and the clothes on their backs. The training was normal training for all Paladins in the temple, a training scenario for the worst of times, to teach them to live off the earth in cases of dire need. For the first two days, the scenario went as planned. They hiked and searched for food, focusing on plants edible and dangerous in the field, and at night finding safe, and easily defendable places to rest. Then, on the morning of the third day, Lia and Tivaan stumbled across tracks in the forest, the depth and shape of the foot leading them to believe they were Kobolds. For two more days they tracked them, and concern grew as many and more seemed to joing the numbers, until finally, they were too great to count, and simple appeared as an army. When they finally caught their quarry, they found it to be far more then they could have bargained for. An army of kobolds, goblins, orcs. They had all found their way to the forest, and, more correctly, the creature living there, a black Dragon of massive size. Tivaan, under Lia's orders, returned to Fallcrest to summon the guard and the Knighthood. He ran for a solid day and more, until he was at the city gates. In force they rode, into the forests, ready to fight. Even Paladins who had not finished training like Tivaan and Alec were armed and mounted for battle. As they apprached the camp, a burst of light filled the air before them.. The ensuing battle was a rout, the dragon's forces never standing a chance against the well trained Paladins and a ferocious cavalry charge. In the center of the camps they found the source of the bright flash of light, the dragon with claw piercing Lia's chest, turned to stone by some unknown power. By right of succession as her second-in-command, Sir Kairon Borak took over position as Lord-Knight of Fallcrest, and took Tivaan to train as his own. Paladin Knight An Adventure Begins The Battle Beneath The Mountain Clash In The Imperial Capitol Out Of The Fire, Into the Volcano Old City, New Allies Into The Black Depths Asperon's Ambassador Just Deserts Equipment Tivaan was raised in a martial tradition of Paladin Knights, and as such accepts their weapons and styles as his own. He favors heavy armor, often with a long cloak of blue or cream draped down his back. He wields sword and shield with the practice and calm of an expert swordsman. What his style lacks in flash, it makes up for a dozen times over in practicality, relying on his shield and heavy armor for protection, and his sword for punshing offensive manuevers. Category:Characters